Battling bowl withdrawals

We’re only a few days removed from the BCS title game, and already I am getting bowl withdrawals.

I am an admitted bowl junkie who’s in denial that the 35-game bowl slate really is over. I keep craving another helping of Beef O’ Brady to cure my appetite, or another Sun Bowl to brighten the bowl-less winter days.

I keep browsing the cable networks in hope that there’s some bowl quadruple-header that I failed to notice in the original schedule. But alas, I haven’t found it yet.

So the next-best thing that came to mind was paying homage to the 2010-11 bowl season by compiling this list of highlights and lowlights that kept us entertained for the past month.

Bowl that most live up to its hype: Rose Bowl between TCU and Wisconsin.

Bowl that least lived up to its hype: The BCS National Title Game (not that it was a bad game, just didn’t quite meet the hype).

Bowl that was surprisingly entertaining: Little Caesars Pizza Bowl between Florida International and Toledo.

Bowl that was predictably entertaining: Sugar Bowl between Ohio State and Arkansas.

Bowl that was surprisingly boring: Holiday Bowl between Washington and Nebraska.

Bowl that was predictably boring: Independence Bowl between Air Force and Georgia Tech.

Bowl team that was surprisingly inspired: Pittsburgh in the Compass Bowl.

Bowl team that was surprisingly uninspired: South Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Bowl team that was predictably inspired: Notre Dame in the Sun Bowl.

Bowl team that was predictably uninspired: Arizona in the Alamo Bowl.

Bowl game that was the most surprising mismatch: The Orange Bowl between Stanford and Virginia Tech.

Bowl game that was the least surprising mismatch: Fiesta Bowl between Oklahoma and Connecticut.

Worst beat of the bowl season: Tennessee in the Music City Bowl against North Carolina. (Nothing quite like hearing the official say, “The game is over” … only to find out it’s not.)

Any thoughts about who else should be on the list? There were multiple candidates for each category, but I stuck with one pick for the sake of brevity. What was your best/worst bet of the bowl season?

Best of luck.  

The Orange Bowl was a surprise in that the score was so lopsided, and that a Virginia Tech squad that had won 11 straight could only compete for one half against Stanford.

Arizona had lost four straight to end the season and didn't look terribly interested in putting up a fight against Oklahoma State. And, I guess if you're into three-and-outs with lots of punting, then the Holiday Bowl was a fantastic game.

Good luck to you.